Developed and published by Baltoro Games, Knights and Guns feels like a reimagining of the classic game Pang. You have to dodge and dash whilst shooting a variety of enemies to try and restore peace to the land. The design is very colourful the backgrounds and the foreground of each level are very detailed. It has some quite heavy rock tracks in the background but it is perfectly suited to the constant fighting and shooting of many enemies.
You play as a knight (or knights if playing local coop) who have to save their land from an evil threat caused by the abuse of power by their former captain. That power has caused an influx of all kinds of evil monsters to appear which as knights you have to vanquish – not with swords, but with guns. Many of them.
There is a nice sense of humour in Knights and Guns and its simplicity makes the game very accessible. You’re a Knight with a gun that can only shoot upwards in a 2d environment. For those familiar with the classic Pang, it is the same concept but Knights and Guns have evolved it a bit further. This is done so by adding in other moves. For one, you can jump, and this becomes vital for the mean enemies that just won’t get above you so you can shoot them. You have a special melee attack which attacks a wide area but needs to be charged up first by killing enemies or collecting potions. Lastly is a dash move, which is an evasive move that also causes damage to enemies as you dash through them.
The campaign is a map containing a grid where each square represents a level. Each level rewards you with an amount of gold for completing it and some levels contain other items like keys or a treasure chest which you can obtain once you have beaten the level. The gold you have accumulated can be spent on upgrading armour, buying extra keys or lives. It can also be used to make certain levels easier by using a slightly better gun than the default for each level. Baltoro Games have tried to add variety to the levels by giving different objectives but for the most part, it was still a lot of shooting and dodging. They can range from killing all the enemies, killing specific enemies or surviving for a certain length of time.
The enemies do have a lot of variety to them and they are all very interestingly designed. Some enemies fire back at you if you get underneath them or if you hit them with bullets. Some enemies spawn other enemies when they are defeated, while others hang low to the ground and only jump rarely, making it hard to get underneath them to shoot them. But you also have a variety of guns to use, about 32, although each level has its restrictions on what weapons can be used.
I enjoyed playing Knights and Guns, it is wonderful in its graphics and simplicity. It does however suffer from repetition which is impossible to avoid due to the nature of the game. It’s something that can be picked up and played in bursts on your own or with a friend using local co-op. There are plenty of levels to work through in the campaign. They also offer extra sets of levels in two separate expansions. Or you can play endless mode at the expense of a small amount of gold to see how long you can last and which wave of enemies you can get to.
Conclusion
Knights and Guns is exactly what you want from a reimagining of a classic title. I loved Pang when it was at the arcades and this game made me feel the same nostalgic excitement I had when playing. It’s simple chaotic fun without being super difficult and overwhelming bullet hell madness. It’s a shame there is no online co-op but it’s still just as fun to play on your own.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox Series S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
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